DC Collectibles

DC Collectibles has been on a tear as of late, and this year's Toy Fair offerings showed the company had no intentions of slowing down any time soon. From more Batman: The Animated Series figures (and vehicles!) and the all-new Icons series, to incredible prop replicas and a heaping helping of the dangerous Harley Quinn, DC Collectibles unleashed one of its strongest preview offerings in recent memory.

As part of the celebration for reaching 250,000 Facebook fans, DC Collectibles has opened its vaults to showcase some prototyped but never developed figures from the past. What's more, DC's asking for your input to see which figures out of the bunch you'd like to see made the most. If any get made at all.

Toy production is a fickle thing, and many times, the concepts and prototypes teased at events like Toy Fair never see the light of day. Whether it's due to a lack of interest at retail, unexpected production costs, or the dissolution of a line dwindling in sales, there are probably just as many ideas collecting dust in a manufacturer's studio as there are actual releases on your shelves. It's rare to get a glimpse into what could have been, but DC Collectibles has given a tiny peek inside its vaults.

Remember the great DC Nation Shorts that used to run Saturday mornings alongside Teen Titans Go!, Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series? Remember how one time DC and Warner Bros. got Robert Valley to do an absolutely, ridiculously awesome and stylish take on Wonder Woman for a few of those shorts? DC Collectibles remembers.

This fall, DC Collectibles' Batman: The Animated Series line will continue to expand its roster of rogues with the additions of Roxy Rocket and Scarecrow. While Roxy has her own appeal, it's The New Adventures of Batman version of Scarecrow -- as the first deluxe figure of the collection -- that will by far give you way more nightmares.

Based on his appearance in 'Never Fear', the Scarecrow is the first figure from the anticipated fifth wave of B:TAS figures. Though that episode is decent, it's no match for 'Over the Edge' (the one where Batgirl has a fevered dream about what'd happen if she died in the line of duty), which came just five episodes later. Still, the most important thing is the incredibly terrifying Scarecrow design that's being brought to life. The original Scarecrow design was brilliant, if a bit too Wizard of Oz, but this version... this is a Scarecrow you actually believed might inspire fear.

If there's one thing DC loves, it's putting out a new Batman figure seemingly every week. This year has been a big one for the Bat, what with it being the character's 75th anniversary and all, and DC Collectibles has been celebrating the milestone with plenty of Bat-themed figures and toys all year.

One of the most consistently impressive series, the Greg Capullo Batman Designer Series, has been chock full of rock solid Batman figures all year. This latest wave of DC Collectibles' Greg Capullo Batman Designer Series is probably the strongest yet, and that's no easy task considering just how strong the collection has been since it started.

Though 'Batman: The Animated Series' had its share of action figures back when it was on the air, the collectibles could hardly be considered more than children's toys. This year, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Batman, DC Collectibles went back to the animated well for a new series of figures based on the now classic Bruce Timm designs.

Incorporating characters from the original 'Batman: The Animated Series' as well as the under-appreciated 'The New Batman Adventures', the figure line's aesthetic (more articulation and accessories, as well as a higher price point) is geared towards the adult collector. This series is aimed directly at those who spent their afternoons after school patiently waiting to see the latest episode, and who are now old enough to have disposable income.

I've always been a pretty big fan of DC Collectibles' line of Batman: Black and White statues. Like the comic series of the same name, they put the spotlight onto visionary artists' distinctive interpretations of the character, and the results have been pretty awesome. Over the years, being invited to design a statue for the line has become a prestigious achievement and recognition of creating a memorable vision of the Dark Knight.

Now, though, after offering up stylish Black and White versions of characters like the Joker, Harley Quinn and even the Penguin, the line is expanding with its first ever Batgirl statue -- and it's based on Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr's new Batgirl of Burnside design.

Each weekday, ComicsAlliance brings you a carefully selected variety of links from around the web about comics and comics-related media, including movies, video games, toys, and whatever else might be worth noting. Quite frankly, these are items you may just need to know about to have a productive day. Take a look at today's hand-picked links after the jump.

Even if you're not a toy collector, there's something inescapably cool about the action figures, statues and other gear on display at fan conventions. Whether they're massive and costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars, or little itty bitty things that still cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, the toys found at San Diego's Comic-Con International serve the dual purpose of advertising new collectibles for those so inclined, but also standing as three-dimensional tributes to the comic book superheroes and other characters upon which Comic-Con and so much of fan culture was built -- in many cases, actually designed by the artists whose work we love so much.

For the non-collector, these are just really exquisite pieces of fan art, especially as seen through the lens of ComicsAlliance's SDCC photographer Pat Loika, who spent a lot of time in the DC Collectibles and Sideshow Collectibles to document what two of the industry's leading toymakers had to show off at the San Diego show.

Statue collectors and Batman fans have a lot to look forward to judging from DC Collectibles' solicitation information for new products on sale later this year. Yet another statue from the enduringly popular Batman: Black & White line is on its way, this one designed by Francis Manapul. There's a whole range of figures based on Greg Capullo's work on Zero Year, a new assortment of Aquaman figures, and, most impressively, a statue of Wonder Woman based on designs by Cliff Chiang.

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